Subject:                              Time:  9:52 AM
  OFFICE MEMO         biography and query                   Date:  12/16/96

Hello, my name is Wayne R. McKinney.  I am a physicist by day and a computer
teacher by nite.  My main hobby is home repair.  I got the love of building
things from my dad who built houses for most of his career and finished by
teaching woodworking in a technical high school.  He is a purist-- his
classes were not permitted to touch a power tool for the whole first year.  I
have been refurbishing an older home (for California, built in 1953) with my
biggest project to date being the roof.  I did it essentially by myself in
the summer of 1990.  3200 sqft with only 20 of 105 sheets of CDX which could
be laid down without cutting.

My immediate interest in the list is that my number two hobby is family
history.  My dad, who lives in MD, has a lot of tools from his father and
grandfather.  He has given me only two to date.  One is an half inch chisel
which has a beautiful handle made of, I think, cherry.  I am not sure of the
name of the other tool.  It is very similiar to a chisel except the metal
part is curved along the entire length.  I would call it a gouge or a lathe
turning tool.  It has an unfinished handle which is clearly hand carved, and
the metal part is stamped near the base with the words "cast steel" and what
is either "W. Dutcher" or "W. Butcher."  I am curious if any of the
subscribers to the list recognizes this as an antique brand name, or has any
idea of where this tool may have been made.

Thanks!
Wayne McKinney